Whatever your idea of your ideal bikini body is, for a lot of people, getting summer and beach-ready means shedding a little excess fat and really turning the focus onto those features which make you feel best about yourself. At Velites, we’re all about helping regular people and athletes to feel awesome and look awesome, and we do it with the best competitive jump ropes in world. Before we get started here, jump on over to the Velites online shop and customise your own Velites Fire 2.0 jump rope, with personalised handles and weights.

How and why fat builds up

Let’s start with some basics on fat, including what it is, as well as how and why it builds up in our bodies. Fat is stored energy, and while it’s good to have some fat to help fuel exercise and your daily life, having too much fat is bad for your health. Why? Because fat which builds up around your body can have a negative impact on your posture, leading to injuries and pain, and all of that excess fat puts pressure on your internal organs and blood vessels. So, getting rid of excess fat is a great idea regardless of how you want to look in a bikini or board shorts.

That said, how does fat actually form? When you eat food, it gets converted into energy for your body to use. Eat too much food, and the excess is stored as fat. Some foods are easier to turn into fat than others because of their composition and how calorie-dense they are. The protein in chicken, for example, is an efficient source of fuel which is unlikely to be turned into fat if you eat it in moderation. The sugar in a bar of chocolate, however, is more prone to turning into fat, rather than being used to fuel or repair your body.

What you eat, directly affects how much body fat you carry around.

How to eat for lower body fat

There are tons of articles out there on eating for lower body fat, so we’ll cut to just a few of the most essential tips for lower body fat using nutrition. This is a key point, by the way, because body composition is as much about nutrition as it is about exercise.

Manage your calories — Calories in vs. calories out is the simplest way to manage body fat.

Training jump rope to cut body fat

We’ve outlined a few of our favourite jump rope workouts below which you can try right now, and we highly recommend checking out our brand new infographic for a full 30-day plan using your Velites jump rope (Right sidebar).

A few key pointers:

Train intensity and endurance for maximum fat burning — Just like with lifting, the more intense your training, the more intense the after burn. Training in short bursts as well as long endurance type workouts is the best way to attack fat in and out of the gym.

Combine jump rope with lifting — For exactly the same reason as above, combining your jump rope workouts with lifting will help to supercharge your fat burning abilities.

Work up a sweat — Working up a sweat will help your body to burn extra fat, so don’t be afraid to get hot and sweaty.

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Those are just a few of our favourites, so be sure to check out the full 30-day training plan by downloading our free infographic .

Training and nutrition are two main factors in controlling your body fat and getting the kind of physique and performance that you want. You won’t optimise one without the other, and to that end, here are a few reminders to round this thing off, which should help you on your way to less body fat:

Train holistically — Get out of breath, get hot and sweaty, and lift weights.

Mix it up — Train heavy and light on different days, and combine them when you can.